Jan 17,2008 00:00 by
UPI PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- At least 10 people died and 25 others were injured Thursday in a suicide bombing of a Shiite congregation hall in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.

The bomber detonated the explosives at the entrance of the Mirza Kasim Imambargah in Peshawar, the Press Trust of India reported. A number of people were at the hall for ceremonies related to the Islamic month of Muharram.

In Islamabad, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the suicide bomber blew himself up at the center's gate when he was stopped by security personnel who were checking all people entering the hall.

Witnesses, however, said the attacker reached the entrance of the hall and opened fire with a handgun while trying to approach a preacher, PTI reported. He then blew himself up.